From: miltos@nfl2.irc.nrc.ca
Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Tue, 2 Nov 1993 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa).

	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): The Maastricht Treaty on European
Union came into effect yesterday, providing Europe with "great
impetus", according to a European Council announcement late last
week. Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos welcomed the
implementation of the treaty and expressed the government's
satisfaction, saying its initial stages coincided with the Greek
EC presidency. The treaty is based on the following concepts:
Greater economic prosperity and the progressive establishment of
an economic and monetary union constituting a stable framework
for development and the creation of jobs. Greater ambitions in
foreign policy, the establishment of a joint policy in the
foreign relations' sector and effective control of social
problems such as drug trafficking, organised crime and illegal
immigration. More democracy at all levels and a new framework to
attain the Community's steadfast aims of security, prosperity
and solidarity. The new treaty strengthens the Community's
social activities and extends its responsibilities in the social
sector to enable the Commission to table new draft directives
improving the working environment, working conditions and social
security for the working classes. Britain, however, has been
exempted from the treaty's clauses on the social sector. The new
treaty effectively establishes "European citizenship", allowing
every citizen to circulate freely and settle in member-states
with the restrictions and conditions set out in the treaty.
European citizens residing in member-states other than that of
their origin will have the right to vote and stand for election
in municipal and European elections in their adopted country.
The Council of Ministers will enact this right before December
31, 1994, after a proposal by the Commission and consultations
with the European Parliament. 


	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): Alternate Foreign Minister Theodoros
Pangalos will visit Luxembourg tomorrow and Bonn on Thursday in
the context of preparations for the Greek EC presidency in
January. Mr. Pangalos will meet Luxembourg's Foreign Minister
Jacques Poos Wednesday and German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel
in Bonn on Thursday. He will visit Strasbourg on Thursday to
represent Greece at the Council of Europe's ministerial session
and will meet Council of Europe Secretary General Catherine
Lalumiere and the parliamentary assembly presidency which
includes former deputy and presidency member Lazaros
Ephraimoglou. The Council of Europe's ministerial session will
focus primarily on assessing the recent Council of Europe summit
held in Vienna on October 8-9. Two other major issues to be
discussed are national minorities and relations with candidate
member-states such as Russia, Albania, Croatia, Moldavia and
Belarus as well as the issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia being admitted to the Council of Europe. 


	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): Culture Minister Melina Mercouri left
for Paris yesterday to attend the UNESCO General Conference and
meet UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor Zaragoza. Today, Ms
Mercouri will attend the unveiling of the sculpture by Takis
which Greece will donate to the UNESCO building in Paris and
make an address as a member of the 42-member international
honorary committee of international cinema personalities
organised by UNESCO. Early in the afternoon, UNESCO director
general Mr. Zaragoza will announce UNESCO's event commemorating
the 100th anniversary of the cinema to be carried out with a
great campaign in the 178 member-states to focus on salvaging
the heritage of international cinema. 


	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): President of the Republic Constantine
Karamanlis yesterday received the new ambassadors of Japan,
Spain and Peru. The ceremony was also attended by Foreign
Minister Karolos Papoulias and Secretary General to the
President's office, Ambassador Petros Molyviatis. 


	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): The name of the Athens News Agency's
new general director will be officially announced today,
government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday. Mr.
Venizelos added that the new management of state-run television,
ERT, will also be announced soon. 


	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): Greece yesterday deported 22 Iraqi
refugees, arrested in Thessaloniki after entering the country
illegally from Bulgaria. The refugees --six adults and 16
children between the ages of two and twelve-- were driven to the
Greek-Bulgarian border yesterday morning and deported on the
orders of the public prosecutor. They told police that a further
13 refugees, most of whom were parents of the children, had
evaded arrest. Meanwhile, a ministerial meeting was held
yesterday morning to discuss the problem of illegal immigration.
Among those participating in the meeting were minister to the
Prime Minister's Office Anastasios Peponis, National Defence
Minister Gerasimos Arsenis, Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias,
Interior Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, Justice Minister George
Kouvelakis and Public Order Minister Stelios Papathemelis.
Government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said that there had
been an exchange of views and a number of proposals were put
forward which would be presented to Prime Minister Andreas
Papandreou. The spokesman said that the problem of illegal
immigration was "extremely acute", particularly with regard to
the large number of immigrants entering the country illegally
from Albania. He added that the issue would be brought up during
Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias' forthcoming visit to Tirana.
Mr. Venizelos said that the problem of illegal immigration was
being dealt with in accordance with the provisions of
international law and Greek legislation. 


	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): The main opposition New Democracy
party will elect a new leader tomorrow morning. The body of
electors comprises the party's 111 MPs, nine Eurodeputies and 63
delegates elected by local organisations on Saturday. Candidates
include Ioannis Varvitsiotis, former national defence minister,
Miltiadis Evert, former minister to the prime minister's office,
and Ioannis Kefaloyiannis, former interior minister, who is
expected to make a final decision today on whether or not he
will stand for election. Two other candidates, Sotiris Kouvelas
and George Souflias, withdrew from the race last week.
Meanwhile, 10 of the Attica region's 12 electors said they would
vote for Mr. Evert, after meeting at an Athens hotel yesterday.
Their statement caused a reaction within the party with former
premier and outgoing party leader Constantine Mitsotakis
declaring such statements did not serve party unity. Mr.
Varvitsiotis said such statements were unacceptable as they
violated the principle of vote secrecy. 


	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): US President Bill Clinton has praised
the work achieved by outgoing New Democracy party leader and
former premier Constantine Mitsotakis, noting relations between
the US. and Greece had never been better. In a letter dated
October 28, President Clinton said Mr. Mitsotakis left office in
the wake of a series of major achievements, also stressing Mr.
Mitsotakis' efforts as premier would remain in the memories of
many Americans who had toiled hard and deeply cared to promote
relations between the two countries. Mr. Mitsotakis received
similar messages from other foreign leaders including Russian
President Boris Yeltsin, German president Richard von
Weizsaeker, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, premiers of the UK John
Major, Denmark, Paul Rasmussen, Bavaria max Strebl, NATO
Secretary-General Manfred Woerner, and UK Foreign Secretary
Douglas Hurd. 


	New York, 2/11/1993 (ANA - M. Georgiadou): Greece's national
holiday of October 28 was also celebrated by the Greek community
in New York last week with Archbishop Iakovos officiating at a
special service at the Holy Trinity Orthodox cathedral on
Sunday. Archbishop Serapheim, primate of Greece, who is in the
US for medical tests, was also present. The service was attended
by presidiums of the Federation of Greek Associations of New
York, the Pan-macedonian Association of America and Canada,
Greek and Cypriot diplomatic missions, and a large gathering of
members of the Greek community. Greek Consul-General Charalambos
Rokanas read out messages from President of the Republic
Constantine Karamanlis and Premier Andreas Papandreou.
Archbishops Iacovos and Seraphein paid tribute to the patriotism
and fighting spirit of Hellenism, which serves as the nation's
shield against any designs from its neighbours. Later, a
reception was held at the Greek Community Centre, at which the
new committee of the Federation of Greek Associations of new
York was sworn in. 


	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): Ioannis Georgakis, chairman of the
Foundation for Hellenic Culture, has died of heart failure, the
foundation said in an announcement yesterday. It said Mr.
Georgakis, 78, died early yesterday morning at his home. Born in
Piraeus in 1915, Mr. Georgakis studied law at the universities
of Athens, Munich, Heidelberg, Leipzig and Freibourg and was a
professor of criminal law. After a distinguished academic and
public service career, he was appointed chairman of the
Foundation for Hellenic Culture in June 1992. A member of the
Athens Academy and former chairman of the Greek National Tourism
Organisation (EOT) and the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit
Foundation, Mr. Georgakis also served as care-taker interior
minister in the lead-in to the October 10 elections. The
Foundation for Hellenic Culture was established by a unanimous
decision of parliament and operated under the auspices of the
President of the Republic. President of the Republic Constantine
Karamanlis sent a letter of condolences to Mr. Georgakis'
daughter expressing his deep grief. "I was deeply moved by the
death of your father, my friend, who was distinguished in the
cultural and intellectual circles in our country", Mr.
Karamanlis said. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou also sent a
telegram expressing his condolences to the family of the
deceased. "I express my deep grief at the sudden death of
Professor Ioannis Georgakis", Mr. Papandreou said. The Coalition
of the Left and Progress party issued an announcement on the
death of Mr. Georgakis also saying that "his contribution to the
letters and science has been significant". Culture Minister
Melina Mercouri said that with Mr. Georgakis' death, Greece has
lost "the man who fought for human rights, the scientist who
gathered knowledge..." Political Spring President Antonis
Samaras described Mr. Georgakis as "a modest presence who will
live through the important work he did for all of us as an
academic and as chairman of the Onassis Foundation and the
Foundation for Hellenic Culture". 


	Athens, 2/11/1993 (ANA): A public prosecutor in Thessaloniki
yesterday ordered an investigation into a missing 17th century
work which monks at the all-male monastic community of Mount
Athens say top Bulgarian officials are implicated in. The move
came after repeated accusations by Bulgarian monks at the
Zografou monastery that a delegation of academics from Bulgaria
had stolen the book "The History of Paisios" during a visit
three years ago. In a letter sent to Bulgarian President Zhelyu
Zhelev in 1992, the convent's abbot, Efthymios, said Bulgarian
embassy officials in Athens assisted the academics in the
alleged operation to steal the 17th century work, considered a
Bulgarian national treasure. Efthymios said a fake copy was
placed in the monastery's library. Judicial sources in
Thessaloniki say police are expected to request the help of the
Bulgarian authorities. Bulgarian embassy officials in Athens
have made no comments on the accusations. END